Calling all Yale SOM Applicants -(2015 Intake) Class of 2017

Thanks for the analysis blizzard, thanks for the analysis makes us feel we are still iin the game

I didn't mean to come off as condescending. The geographic speculation has hardly been light-hearted humor - it's been an attempt to figure out the adcom's process. None of this was meant as a personal affront to you or any others.

My "full disclosure" at the beginning of my post was not meant to boast. Rather, it was meant to qualify the rest of my comment so that readers didn't think I was some bitter applicant that came here to spew about his frustration. Don't get me wrong, I would love to be admitted to SOM - it's why I applied.

My only aim was to, at least, interrupt the speculation about some geographic trend that seems to be everywhere (not just in this thread). Every few posts in many of these "Calling all applicants" threads is, "has anybody from [insert country here] heard back yet?" I'm quite certain there's been no discernible pattern if you go back in past threads for most/all schools.

I'm sorry for being a wet blanket. In general, I've been extremely supportive on this site. I'm sorry if you took offense as it was never intended.

I'm not sure what you problem is when folks out here try to decode this opaque process. I for one, am not a big fan of reading too much into every invite, but if somebody else does that I don't have a problem with it. It's nauseating to see people who come to online forums, and try to steer the conversation just because THEY don't agree with it.

And your reasoning isn't very valid here either. Yale Adcom is going to come to hub cities for interview, and it does make complete sense for them to review as many applications coming from candidates in and around those cities before they fly in. I say as many as they can, because let's face it there will be some incomplete applications or some on which they need a second or a third opinion, who knows. Let's take the example of India. Do you think they will spend a week in India, and not make the best effort to review all Indian applicants before they get here? That means they have to give Indian applicants at least 10-15 days to get their schedule in order, so I would assume they will like to review as many Indian applicants as they can by the 20th of this month (Since India interview dates are March 3-6). So they can have a little more room for say Singapore (Just guessing) or any other city that they might be visiting after India They can take the extra couple of days to review applications from that region, and they will. It's not an easy task reviewing essays + recommendation of 1000+ applicants in less than a month. It would be foolish for them to go to Colombia and interview a bunch of guys and then get back to New Haven and say "Hey guys we found this pile of good applications from Bogota, wish we could have interviewed them when we were there. Let's just Skype them now."
They are using an electronic application management software, which I'm sure goes into a centralized database. They can sort our applications by location, age, GPA, GMAT Score, whatever they want. So when they say their review process is random, It could very well mean they apply certain filters and then randomly select applications to streamline their own administrative process. And I'm sure the process works a bit differently for North American candidates, especially east coast, but it's not hard to decipher/speculate on what's going on given the tons of data and stats that we have not just from this year's thread but from the last few years, if one is so inclined.

Needless to say all this comes with a big caveat: there are always exceptions. And you should never be too sure or unsure of your chances.

Agree with StarLord on this. While I am no fan of speculation, I have no issue with others speculating on a public forum... Especially if it helps them get through this process.

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...StarLord?

We agree to disagree. I just wish that during such a tense time many threads weren't flooded with regular geographic speculation. I would prefer to receive a notification that something of substance (or at least original humor/speculation) was shared on a thread I'm following closely.

Let the speculation continue...

Interviews: Why?

SOM applicants fall into one of three groups:
1) The Chosen - These guys are interviewed and called back. Congrats!
2) The Teased and Unpleased - The cost of the application, plane ticket, and hotel bought you a thirty-minute interview but no phone call. Ouch.
3) No Dice - Dings hurt but this group is better off than Group 2. It is better to get flat-out rejected by the cute barista than to get rejected after thinking she's into you. Not speaking from experience of course.

The application (GMAT, work experience, etc.) presumably weeds out Group 3. Anyone who interviews should be professionally and intellectually qualified. So what separates Group 1 from Group 2? The interview, which weeds out 40% of those interviewed. That is what boggles me. The interview itself is advertised as very straightforward and conversational. I expect that most native speakers of Group 1 and 2 caliber do pretty well. How is it then that 40% gets dinged after the interview? Remember that the rest of the application is good, at least enough for an interview, and that the interview itself is relatively easy. So what exactly is admissions looking for in that short thirty-minute chat, and what exactly is 40% of interviewees getting wrong?

My only guess is fit, only because the 'Why Yale' question was not one of the essay prompts. But can fit really be the primary deal breaker for Group 2? Thoughts?

(This question isn't unique to SOM. I just asked it here because I happened to know the stats.)

In response to above:

I'm glad you asked that question and I'll share what I picked up from speaking to Dee Leopold at HBS yesterday after my interview. She said (unless I somehow missed something) that they have faculty/adcomms go through and narrow down the applicant pool to around 1800 or so. Those 1800 are then interviewed, notes are made and added to the file, and then it gets passed along to Dee herself who either picks you or dings you. So the interview serves as a way to answer any questions that may have come up on your app. Things like (if this person is overqualified) are they REALLY interested in our school, or are we a backup? What did they do during this 12 month gap? Why did they go from teaching to consulting, etc? It's a way to round out the application. So yes, if someone shows up and totally bombs the interview, it will doom you. But the more likely scenario is that the interview will simply tie up those loose ends allow them to make a "fair" determination on your application. It isn't that once you're in the interview, everyone is on equal ground (or at least that's my perception of it). Getting interviewed signals that you are a finalist, now they're just gathering info to help make a more informed decision, which seems reasonable enough. Showing up in person, or via Skype, doesn't make a whole lot of difference (unless maybe you were in that, is he serious pile). They're just trying to give you a chance to add to your app. The interviews (at least in my experience) are not super stressful. Instead of trying to answer with what you think they want to hear, just be yourself. Most valuable prep you can do is to just take some time to reflect on your experiences so that you can articulate them in the way you want.

I suppose I'll conclude my rant on that note! Congrats to all who have interviewed this far, hopefully I've got one coming my way too!

9:12 AM Chine Time / 8:12 pm ET, Just got the invite, the wait was worth it :D

I'm based out of China.

Just got the invite 20 minutes ago. I'm from Brazil and I live here.

Congrats! Just got my interview invitation as well! It came an hour ago, 20:10 EST! (I'm from Chile). So excited!

Just got an invite 8:20pm EST.

International applicant from Nigeria. Submitted application 2minutes before deadline and paid a minute before. Huge relief since this is 1st. To others still waiting, especially those with 0 invites - keep your head up. I know that awful feeling of checking your emails and gmatclub 10 times a day.

any silver scholars applicant got invite?

Applied in Jan, no word yet
Does Yale send out ding letters or is it a long wait till end of march?

I am also a Nigerian applicant and I am yet to get an interview. Can you share your stats please?

Same here, friend. No invite as of yet.

In the past, all the results come out on the same day. Calls in the morning/afternoon ET for admits and waitlists/dings emailed out later in the day around close of business (5pm ET, 6pm ET?). Admits will also get emails "confirming" the admittance (we all like to see it in writing) with more information about accessing a portal with all sorts of information, admitted student reception dates, and more fun stuff.